Jamshedpur, Jan. 23 -- In a decisive blow to the Left Wing Extremism (LWE), the elite Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) 209 Battalion led 'Operation Meghaburu' neutralised 15 CPI (Maoist) extremists, including central committee member (CCM) Patiram Majhi alias Anal da alias Toofan alias Ramesh carrying a cumulative bounty of Rs.2.35 crore inside Saranda Forests in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, officials said on Thursday. Apart from Anal da, Bihar-Jharkhand Special Area Committee (BJSAC) member Lalchand Hembram alias Anmol alias Sushant with a bounty of Rs. 90 lakh, regional committee member (RCM) Amit Munda with Rs.62 lakh, sub-zonal committee member (SZC) Pintu Lohar with Rs.5 lakh, SZC Laljit with Rs.5 lakh and area committee member (ACM) Rajesh Munda, and women Maoist ACMs Bulbul Alda, Babita Purnima, Surajmuni and Jonga were also killed in the fierce encounter since 6 AM under Chotanagra police station (PS) inside Saranda Forests on Thursday, officials said. "The joint forces led by CoBRA 209 battalion and comprising CRPF, Jharkhand Jaguar and the state police were on anti-Naxal operation early this morning following a credible tip-off of squads led by Anal da and Anmol being present in the jungles between Bahda and Kumbhdih village. The Maoists, seeing themselves surrounded, opened indiscriminate fire on the joint forces. In the ensuing gunbattle lasting over seven hours, 15 Maoists have been killed of which 11 have been identified," Saket Kumar, CRPF DIG in Jharkhand, told the media on Thursday. Kumar further said that the operation was still ongoing and the identification process was also still ongoing. 'It's a historic moment for the CRPF, CoBRA and Jharkhand police as it is the biggest blow to the Maoists losing 15 of their top commanders. Earlier, eight Maoists were neutralized in Garhwa and eight in Bokaro last year," added Saket Kumar. "All the deceased Maoists will be identified but it will take some time as poor network is causing delay in sending photos. The challenging geographical location and hostile terrain in Durdura area, where the encounter happened, is inside deep hilly forest area. The Maoists have also laid IEDs everywhere which have claimed the lives of our jawans and innocent villagers alike. We are moving in slowly but surely. Only 40-50 are left in Saranda while another 10 Maoists are left in other parts of Jharkhand. The number of Naxal-affected PS has been reduced to two Jaraikela and Chotanagra in West Singhbhum district from 14 earlier. We are confident of making Jharkhand free of Naxals by our target timeframe," asserted the CRPF IG. Jharkhand IG (operation) Michael Raj said that another top Maoist central committee member (CCM) Misir Besra alias Nirbhay with 40-50 Maoists extremists has been hiked up in the same area within 15-20 km radius. "Anal had 149 cases against him, including looting 183 rifles from home guard armoury in Giridih, Belwaghati massacre in 2005, attack on the CRPF camp in Bokaro and all the attacks and IED blasts in West Singhbhum district between 2022 and 2025. NIA had also declared a reward of Rs 15 lakh on his head and was wanted in Jharkhand, Odisha and Bihar. Anmol had 149 cases in West Singhbhum, Bokaro. Giridih, Seraikela-Kharsawan and other districts, Amit Munda had 96 cases, Pintu Lohar had 47 cases pending against him. The operation is still ongoing and the number of slain Maoists may increase more. AK-47, Insas rifles and huge cache of arms, ammunition and explosives have been recovered from the encounter site also. Apart from 40-50 in Saranda, three Maoists are active in Palamu, two in Chatra, four-five in Hazaribagh and two in Latehar. We appeal to the remaining Maoists to join the mainstream and help in the development of the people for whom they claimed to be fighting. We also appeal to the families of the Maoists to convince them to surrender and take the benefits of State government's Surrender and Rehabilitation Policy," Michael Raj, Jharkhand IG (operation), said. The encounter came close in the heels of CRPF DG (operation) Gyanendra Pratap Singh finalizing the roadmap for final onslaught on the Maoists in Saranda during a strategy meeting at Chaibasa on Monday last. The meeting to use helicopters, drone and satellite surveillance to track and pinpointed action on the Maoist camps and hideouts to meet the Home Minister Amit Shah's deadline of Naxal-free India by March 2026. CCM Patiram Majhi alias Anal-da alias Toofan alias Ramesh hailed from Pirtand in Giridih district of Jharkhand as was Lalchand Hembram alias Anmol too. Earlier, Prayag Majhi alias Vivek-da (hailing from Tundi PS of Dhanbad), another CCM carrying Rs 1 crore bounty, was killed in an encounter in Lugu Pahar of Bokaro on April 21, 2025 along with eight Maoists including Arvind Yadav and Saheb Ram Majhi. Vivek's wife Jaya Majhi, carrying Rs 25 lakh bounty, had died in RIMS-Ranchi during cancer treatment on September 21, 2024. Another CCM Anuj alias Sahdev Soren alias Pravesh alias Amlesh was gunned down in Hazaribagh in September 2025 while Maoist Politburo member Prashant Bose alias Kishan-da was arrested from Chandil in Seraikela-Kharsawan district and CCM Sudhakar has surrendered in Telangana after fleeing from Jharkhand....